What happened to the stars?

There were some guys in the starting lineup at Yankee Stadium Monday who you wouldn’t have expected to see playing on Opening Day. This goes for both the Red Sox (Mike Napoli is your cleanup hitter?) and the Yankees (Ben Francisco is the DH? … he hit .240 last year).

Certainly injuries played a major role in this, with David Ortiz limping around the Bronx with his sore feet; Alex Rodriguez hiding in the bowels of Yankee Stadium hoping nobody saw him; and Derek Jeter sunning himself during extended rehab in Tampa.

Put Papi back in the Boston lineup and put even just Jeter in the Yanks’ lineup and it all looks a lot better.

All we have heard this spring about the Yankees is how they are now walking a budgetary line, the days of free spending over. Well, even with this makeshift lineup, the Yankees still have easily the highest payroll in the majors.

What is more interesting is that the Yankees’ disabled list sits comfortably in 21st place on the list of MLB payrolls, ahead of teams like the Rays, Athletics and Pirates, who plan on challenging for playoff spots this season.

Oh yeah, that payroll for the Yankees’ disabled list includes just 6 players.

While I think the Yankees will still win the competitive AL East since the five teams will beat each other up, coupled with the fact that the lineup you saw Monday will not be the lineup that finishes the season, it could indeed get ugly around the Stadium.

A photo that got wide circulation Monday (above in this post)showed the stands at pricey Yankee Stadium nearly empty. This was in the 8th inning Monday when the score was still only 5-2 … but it was eventually a 4-hour game in cool to chilly weather. With two lineups devoid of the kind of big-name talent you come tom expect when the Yankees and the Red Sox clash.